


Celestial

by iloveallmyfandomsequally



Series: Zutara Week 2020 [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Constellations, F/M, Fluff, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Katara is a big nerd, Post-Episode: s03e16 The Southern Raiders, Stargazing, Zuko supports her, celestial
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:20:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25689475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iloveallmyfandomsequally/pseuds/iloveallmyfandomsequally
Summary: Katara and Zuko do a bit of stargazing.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Zutara Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862872
Kudos: 33





	Celestial

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to Fanfiction.net

"-and that one's Ursa Minor. The constellation represents Ida, the nymph who looked after Zeus when he was on the island of Crete when he was a kid, along with the nymph Adrasteia who is Ursa Major. It's said that Zeus' mother Rhea hid Zeus on the island when he was young to protect him from his father Cronus. Cronus became paranoid because of an old prophecy stating that one of his children would overthrow him, so he ate five of his children after they were born. But after Zeus was born Rhea tricked Cronus into swallowing a stone and Zeus eventually carried out the prophecy. He freed his brothers Posiedon and Hades, and his sisters Hera, Hestia, and Demeter, and eventually became the ruler of Olympus."

"Wow. That kinda sounds like something my father would do," Zuko mused after Katara had finished her story. Katara chuckled good-naturedly.

"What, kill his own father to assume ultimate power?" she joked.

"Probably, but I was thinking more along the lines of eating his own children before they could overthrow him," Zuko said. "I'm surprised he didn't eat _me_ when I was born. My mother wouldn't have allowed it anyway."

Katara smiled. "Then I guess you could be Zeus. Defeating his own father in an epic battle and taking the crown by force."

Zuko laughed. "I could, but then again, defeating the Fire Lord is kind of Aang's duty. Besides, those stories are messed up anyways. Did you know that Zeus and Hera got married? That's like _me_ marrying _Azula_! It's totally unethical!"

Katara cringed. "Eugh, yeah that would be messed up."

"I swear, you have the weirdest fascination with those odd myths and legends," Zuko said, making the both of them laugh. They gazed up at the stars for a little while longer, Katara letting out a content sigh.

"What are we gonna do?" Katara put the question out in the air.

"We could think about our place in the universe," Zuko suggested, making her chuckle.

"I mean what are we gonna do after Aang defeats the Fire Lord and restores balance to the world," she clarified.

"Well, I figured I would hopefully defeat Azula in a terrifying yet amazing agni kai, and then assume my place as the rightful heir to the throne," Zuko said, shrugging a little bit. "What about you? Think you'll go on more adventures with Aang, keep 'em in line?"

Katara sat up and scowled, immediately confusing Zuko. "Why is it that everyone just _assumes_ that I'm going to do whatever Aang does?" she says hotly. "It's not like I'm his babysitter, and plus I'm my own person with my own goals and ambitions. Seriously, you rescue the Avatar from an iceberg once and suddenly the whole world thinks you're attached at the hip."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it, honest," Zuko said, propping himself up on his elbows. "I just . . . well, you're right, I _did_ assume you were going to be going along with Aang after this. At least, I get that's his mindset considering he thinks extremely high of you."

Katara looked away from him, hoping he couldn't see the blush on her cheeks. "My world doesn't revolve around Aang," Katara retorted coldy.

"Have you told him that?" Zuko inquired.

"Well . . . no," she admitted bashfully, hanging her head. "But he has a lot on his plate right now. Y'know, defeating the Fire Lord and all."

"Katara, just 'cause he's the Avatar doesn't mean you owe him anything," Zuko said. "Heck, you saved his life, he should be owing you for crying out loud."

"Of course I know that," Katara said. "I know my life doesn't have to align with Aang's and that we don't owe each other anything. He'll repay his debt when he defeats your father and restores balance to the world."

"Y'know," Zuko started, sitting all the way up and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, "it's not selfish to put your best interest before others', Katara. If you did you'd either be a doormat or go insane. Just try to keep that in mind, okay?" Katara gazed at him and gave him a curt nod. He smiled, got up, and began to walk to his tent, ready to turn in for the night.

* * *

Zuko was in the middle of sleeping when someone shook him awake. He opened his eyes, trying to focus his blurry vision on who dared disturb him. Once his eyes were in focus he found Katara looming over him with the biggest grin on her face. "Katara?" he muttered sleepily, feeling some drool on his chin.

"Come on," she whispered excitedly, "I want to show you something."

Zuko squinted his eyes and tried to process what she had just said. He groaned when Katara was out of his tent and struggled to put his shirt on. When he caught up to Katara, he rubbed his eye and yawned. Katara glanced at him and snorted. "Well, I knew you had varying fashion choices in the palace, but this one is quite unique, your majesty," she teased.

"Huh?" Zuko looked down to see he had put his shirt on backwards and his vest was inside out. Zuko groaned tiredly, slowly trying to fix his clothes before Katara rolled her eyes good-naturedly and started taking off his robes. "Here, lemme help," she said. She took his vest and then his shirt, making sure the shirt was on properly and done right. She topped it off by placing the vest and smoothing it out. She then ruffled his hair, to which he grunted and she giggled. "There, better?" Zuko just grumbled. They continued to walk towards Appa. The flying bison was sleeping soundly, before Katara started scratching near his ear. He opened his big brown eyes to see Katara and Zuko standing in front of him.  
"Hey, buddy, wanna go for a midnight flying session?" Katara cooed, stroking under his chin. Appa groaned happily, licking her with his giant tongue and making her giggle. They climbed up onto his saddle and Katara whispered, "Yip yip," and they were soaring off into the sky. Zuko knew that the stars were beautiful from the ground, but they seemed even more dazzling from the view of a flying bison. They calmly flew for a little bit with Katara at the reins, but she asked Appa if he could handle it on his own, to which he replied with a groan. Katara assumed that meant yes because she let go of the reins and climbed back into the saddle and curled up next to Zuko. Zuko thought it was particularly close-even for Katara-but not in an uncomfortable way, more like a safe way. They gazed in silence for a little bit, with Katara resting her head on Zuko's shoulder and sighing contently.

"It's so beautiful out tonight," Katara said with a sigh. "You have to stargaze late at night, 'cause sometimes you can't see all of them."

Zuko hummed curiously. He could agree that the stars seemed more vibrant as the night hours went on, but he couldn't tell if what he was seeing were stars or hallucinations from tiredness. He concluded that it was a mixture of both.

"Look, there's the constellation Cassiopeia," Katara said, pointing out to the sky. "It's said that the Queen, Cassiopeia, was staring at herself in a mirror and she believed she was more beautiful than the sea nymphs. But Posiden didn't like that so he demanded that the king and queen's daughter, Princess Andromeda, be sacrificed to the sea monster, Cetus.

"And there's the constellation Andromeda, who was then saved by Perseus after her mother chained her to a rock." Katara pointed to another constellation. "Eventually Cassiopeia started plotting with Andromeda's ex-fiancé, Agenor, to kill Perseus, and Perseus used the head of the gorgon Medusa to turn Agenor, Casseiopeia, and their entire army to stone."

Zuko couldn't help but chuckle. "How do you know so much about stars?"

"You learn a lot in the little time you're in Wan Shi Tong's library," Katara said playfully.

"Hm, well, it's a good thing they're not real, otherwise there might be a power play over who gets to control the world between the spirits and those gods," Zuko said.

"I dunno. There's always stories about how there could be a western world where all the people have pale skin and light colored hair. It's pretty weird, but it's fun to imagine what'd it be like," Katara mused.

"Yeah, I guess some things are better left to the imagination rather than reality," Zuko said.

"Probably, but at least with these stories we get to learn the history of all these beautiful constellations."

Zuko glanced at Katara, seeing the whole midnight sky in her eyes. He smiled, placing his hand on hers and making Katara look over at him. "Y'know, I think there's something more beautiful here than all the constellations combined," Zuko said, causing Katara to raise a curious eyebrow.

"What?" she asked.

"You," he said. Katara immediately blushed and tried to hide her face but couldn't hide the giant grin that spread across her face. Zuko lifted her chin gingerly with the tip of his fingers. The stars reflected beautifully in her blue eyes, Zuko was absolutely mesmerized. He started to lean closer and closed his eyes. Katara copied his gesture and soon their lips were pressed tenderly together. It wasn't filled with passion, but curiosity. They explored what the other wanted, and maybe it was the way Zuko wrapped his hands around her waist or the way Katara ran her hands through his hair, but eventually they were having a full-on makeout session.

Eventually they both had to stop, taking deep breaths and trying to calm down. Their faces were as red as Zuko's robes and they were both grinning like two teenagers in love. "Wow, who knew Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation was an amazing kisser," Katara teased, making him laugh.

"I could say the same for you, Water Tribe peasant," he joked. Katara laughed, not even taking offense since she knew he meant it in good fun. She leaned in and pressed another kiss to Zuko's lips and he immediately returned it. They continued kissing, periodically stopping to catch their breath, for what seemed like an eternity.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I'm sorry to any Greek Mythology nerds who were cringing if I got the stories wrong. I just did some last minute research about the myths behind these constellations and such. I also am sorry to the astronomy nerds if I got the constellation placements wrong, but hopefully in the same general area. I'm much more in to Asian Mythology than I am Greek, but never hurts to do your research!
> 
> This story is probably my favorite one out of the prompts I did.


End file.
